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Kelly Fidoe-White’s coworkers knew that there was something about her that smelled fishy. They weren’t wrong. Kelly does smell fishy, literally. She suffers from a condition called “fish odor syndrome” or Trimethylaminuria, according to the LADbible.
Kelly’s condition made her smell like a fish all of the time. Her coworkers at the Royal Oldham Hospital had complained about the smell that she emits enough to force her to work night shifts.
Kelly, who’s 36 years old, lives in Oldham. Aside from her smelly situation, Kelly endures years of continuous harassment and bullying all through her life. The torturous situation had caused her severe anxiety.
According to the LADbible, “Trimethylaminuria is a metabolic illness that makes the sufferer exude potent smells like rotten fish, onion and faeces.”
Kelly had the condition since she was only young. So, going through years of school was very difficult for her. She would describe her odor as “fishy-oniony.”
Before, Kelly would shower twice a day, change her uniform twice a day, and bathe herself with deodorant just to overpower the smell and cover it. However, none of her methods seemed to whole for a whole day, as the fishy smell managed it reek itself through the covers.
Kelly told Bancroft, “Besides the smell itself, there are very few other symptoms at all and of course you have the side effects of anxiety, social isolation - it's hard. As far as I know, this condition affects 300 to 600 people worldwide - it's not very well known."
She added, “There is no magic pill that you can take to make it better, I personally take a cocktail of medications. One of the things they [the doctors] turn around and say to you is: 'If it smells going in, it's going to smell going out.' So, things like fish and seafood are major triggers."
According to the LADbible, Trimethylaminuria happens when the body fails to break down compounds contained in foods called choline. This leads to the body having a reeking smell by sweat, breath, and urine. Kelly’s sense of smell can’t help her, for she doesn’t even have one.
Kelly was only diagnosed with the fish odor syndrome two years ago. But she was already aware of her condition since she was in grade school. She had no idea if her condition was genetically passed on to her or it just developed out of nowhere.
Kelly said, “There was more than one occasion where I would say: 'I've had fish paste sandwiches for my lunch,' when kids would say 'You smell like fish.' That was difficult to deal with as a teenager.
"I was spending a stupid amount of time in the shower just before my diagnosis. Using red hot water, scrubbing until my skin was bright red and it was just too stressful."
Despite her off-putting smell, Kelly met the love of her life sixteen years ago. He and her man, Michael, got married and lived together. Kelly said that Michael made the whole situation easier to bear, as if the odor wasn’t really there and bothering her. He loves her dearly despite her pungent smell.
Michael, who’s 45 years old, said, "Kelly's smell has sometimes affected me in a negative manner but I haven't said anything to Kelly. I've just kept it to myself. When we were living together at the start I did notice it.”
He continued, “But it wasn't straight away when we first started seeing each other - it was never a problem. Kelly wasn't that confident when we first met - and I think the best way of me helping her with the condition is to just be supportive. If that was me living with the condition, I think I would struggle to do as much as Kelly does."
Kelly works as a radiographer at the Royal Oldham Hospital. She mostly takes night shifts since almost everybody in the hospital doesn’t want to work with her. Except for Faysal Bashir, who managed to made it through her smell and befriended Kelly. Bashir works as a CT/MR radiographer.
Kelly and Faysal built a relationship in which communication was key. Faysal can confidently tell Kelly when the odor was becoming more aggressive and she needed to change or apply more deodorant.
